Under the Data Protection Act 2018, certain types of personal information are classed as “special category data”. This includes information relating to:
- Race or ethnic origin;
- Religious or philosophical beliefs;
- Political opinions;
- Trade union membership;
- Genetic & biometric data;
- Health information;
- Sex life or sexual orientation.
We try to minimise our holding and use of Special Category data, however, given the services we provide, there are times when we do need to use it - for example:
- when providing accommodation for disabled person;
- when resolving neighbourhood disputes involving alleged criminal activity or Anti-Social Behaviour; or
- when helping someone to get access to care or support services.
The law allows us to collect special categories of personal data belonging to our customers and prospective customers for the following reasons, known in the GDPR legislation as our ‘legal bases for processing’:
- Necessary for us to comply with employment, social security or social protection law;
- Necessary to help us protect a person’s vital interests when that person is incapable of giving consent. This is sometimes the case in emergency or urgent safeguarding situations, when we need to make decisions relating to calling emergency services or agencies or if we are assisting agencies with statutory authority with emergency action;
- Necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, particularly those relating to safeguarding investigations or any legal action that we may take in Anti-Social Behaviour cases.
When we collect Special Category data we will tell you:
- why we are collecting it;
- how we will use it; and
- include the details of who it could potentially be shared with.
At all times, all customers have the right to ask us which Special Category data we are processing about them, and why we are doing this.